


be still, my indelible friend

by KentuckyTheFried



Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: Bran the cat makes a special appearance, M/M, Pining, Pongo is the player character (male), set a little before file 8, the twins both overwork themselves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 12:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22496470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KentuckyTheFried/pseuds/KentuckyTheFried
Summary: Before the events of File 8, Pongo spends some much needed time alone in Max's safehouse, reflecting on his feelings for a certain yellow drone's owner.
Relationships: Hal/Player Character (Astral Chain)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	be still, my indelible friend

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first Astral Chain fic! Just wanted to write a short little thing for my player character, Pongo, as he struggles over his feelings for Hal. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, even though it's a bit on the shorter side! More notes at the end ~

Max’s Safehouse

19:27

The sky was growing dark beneath the cityline, stars beginning to emerge. They knew they could never compete with the lights in the buildings, all the nightowls who still had work to do. And yet they came, every night, to greet those who still wished upon them.

All the stars in the sky, and yet whenever he wished for something, it never came true. Was that what it meant to grow old? That the stars in the sky would ignore you? Pongo sighed, leaned back against the wall as he tried to peer out of the window, maybe catch a glimpse of stars he couldn’t see past the walls. There was no use in wishing if all the stars ignored your existence, but at least they were pretty. Damn them for giving him false hope.

The cats had all been fed an hour before. By all accounts, Pongo should’ve gone back to HQ. He had a feeling they’d eventually need help with the cleanup in the city; the homunculus had destroyed much in its wake, killed so many innocents, injured so many others. He wondered if Akira was already there, moving abandoned cars out of the streets so rescue teams could sweep the perimeters, so transports could bring supplies. Pongo knew he should be down there too, even if he wasn’t ordered to. But something kept him in the safehouse. Its safety, its peace. Its serenity and utter calm. It was a nice change from the usual, one he didn’t know he needed until he’d almost collapsed on the couch in the corner of the room. All his muscles ached with unresolved tension, his heart and mind heavy with all that had unfurled. To think that his world had changed only two months ago…

Eventually he’d moved to the benches near the window, where Bran sat licking his paw. Pongo was about to reach out to pet him when his talkie buzzed. Incoming call. Pongo checked the ID, almost too quickly, and didn’t know why he was disappointed to see it was from Akira. He answered begrudgingly.

“Hey,” Akira said, “Are you where I think you are?”

“Maybe,” Pongo smirked, though it was weak and unseen.

“You know we could use you in cleanup. There’s...a lot more than I thought there’d be.”

“What did you expect from it? That thing was _massive_.”

“I dunno, I just...it’s a lot.”

Pongo suddenly understood what she meant. “You know you could step away if you need to.”

“That’s not professional. They need my Legion to clear up the redshift and move cars around, I can’t just walk out because I feel like it.”

“Akira.” Pongo tried to make his voice sound stern, but it was a tired attempt. “You always got on my case for overworking. Now I am getting on yours.”

“That was different!” Akira cried, “You were working too hard as part of a childish war. You always wanted to be better than me. This - right now - this is our _job_.”

Pongo didn’t have an immediate response for her. Bran stopped grooming himself to look up at him; slit green eyes, full of curiosity, full of a gratitude that Pongo could only begin to understand. Pongo scratched Bran’s cheek as he responded carefully.

“I just want you to take care of yourself too, okay? Promise me that.”

It was Akira’s turn to pause. “...fine. But the same goes to you too mister. No more dangerous solo missions and getting arrested.”

“It was not a solo mission, I had -” Pongo stopped himself. “...Okay. I promise. Now please do not overwork yourself. I will be over there soon.”

“You better be,” Akira joked, and the call went silent. Pongo folded his hands in his lap, a tense movement followed by his knuckles cracking as his fingers pressed into his skin.

Solo mission.

No. He had Hal.

He’d gone radio silent ever since Pongo got arrested. That had been a bad phone call; Hal had blamed himself for it all, and Pongo kept trying to tell him how he’d do it all again, how he didn’t care so long as Hal was okay. But Hal wasn’t okay. NEURON was after his arrest, too. After being let go from the technical division, the Commander added insult to injury, told everyone on the force to keep an eye out for the man who orchestrated a federal crime. And so Hal disappeared again. Pongo wondered if he had vanished for good.

It hurt to think about.

Why did Pongo’s stomach twist into itself when he thought about him? Why did he always catch himself thinking about the worn away stickers on his drone, how bright the drone’s eyes were as they made eye contact? Why did he feel warm when Hal first projected his physical appearance from the drone, why did he laugh harder at Hal’s jokes and how awkward he could be, why did he feel any of this?

And why did it hurt so much now?

Pongo unfolded his hands, scratched at his cheeks. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised to find his fingers stained with tears.

When Pongo finally stood back up, Bran stopped cleaning himself to follow him over to the door. A few cats meowed farewell, though none of the others moved from their spots. Pongo grinned back at them. It felt nice, knowing that when the world was falling down around them, he was the one who saved them. He and Akira, the police who specialized in cat rescue. That would be interesting. Too docile a profession for Akira, certainly, but after everything...it would be a nice change of pace, he thought. He could imagine settling down somewhere in the city, rescuing cats off the street and finding good homes for them.

He could imagine that life with Hal.

In that moment Pongo wondered if perhaps that was why the stars ignored him. Because one of their own - the brightest of them all - had come down to join him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working on something that's a little longer at the moment that goes more into depth about how Pongo starts dating Hal AND Olive (poly relationships heal my weary heart), so please look forward to that!
> 
> For now, if you're curious about my writing shenanigans and updates, my writing blog on Twitter is @KentuckyWrites ! Thanks for reading, have a wonderful day/evening <3


End file.
